Heavy rains lashed parts of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, triggering flash floods and landslides that blocked the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway with hundreds of vehicles stranded, and prompted authorities to shut schools in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.
Pakistani authorities on Thursday assured their Border Security Force counterparts that a jawan, who was captured in their territory after being swept away by a strong current of the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir, will be handed back on Friday.
Glaciers in the Karakoram region are in a stable condition, but those feeding the Ganga and the Brahmaputra river basins are melting at a faster rate, the earth sciences ministry has said.
Earlier, Pakistani media reports claimed that the Indian delegation agreed to halt the progress on Miyar hydroelectric project's design after accepting Pakistan's reservations.
The three-day meeting between the two commissioners of PCIW completed discussions on all agenda items on Wednesday.
Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended due to lurking threat of floods in the Valley, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded, officials said.
Pausing the process for now, the bank would hold off from appointing the Chairman for the Court of Arbitration or the neutral expert -- appointments that had been expected on December 12 as earlier communicated by the bank.
An eight-member Pakistani judicial commission team crossed into India from the Wagah border check post in Punjab on Saturday to conduct the much-delayed cross-examination of witnesses in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which claimed 166 lives.
The 40-year-old Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan has been an outstanding example of conflict resolution but scarcity of water in the basin states since the early 1990s has brought the agreement under strain and its "survival appears weak", according to a UN report.
Secretary of Pakistan's ministry of water resources Khawaja Shumail said: "We have neither concern nor objection if India diverts water of eastern rivers and supplies it to its people or uses it for other purposes, as the IWT allows it to do so."
'In the last 55 years India and Pakistan have gone to wars, but nobody spoke about scrapping the Indus Waters Treaty.'
Of the 272-km Udhampur-Baramulla rail line, nearly 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal is incomplete.
The Standing Committee on Water Resources has recommended renegotiating the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address the impact of climate change on water availability in the river basin and other challenges which are not covered under the agreement.
India's infrastructure marvels are its impressive network of road and railway bridges.
Jaitely's statement comes amidst the escalating tension between Indian and Pakistan.
Central Industrial Security Force chief OP Singh briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the heightened arrangements at airports, ports and other vital installations guarded by the central force.
A flood alert was issued in Doda and Leh districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday in view of rising water levels in Chenab and Sindh rivers.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday dedicated to the nation the 450-MW Baglihar hydro electric power project built on river Chenab in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.
During the meeting, Pakistan was expected to highlight concerns about the three Indian hydro projects being built on the rivers flowing to Pakistan.
When completed in 2016, the 1.3-km railway bridge over the Chenab will soar 359 meters above the river bed, 19 meters higher than France's Tarn River bridge.
India has an impressive network of road and railway bridges.
A villager was washed away in flash floods while 19 others were rescued from the swirling waters in Jammu and Poonch districts early on Friday morning.
After causing widespread damage in northern Punjab in Pakistan, the devastating floods now threaten the historic city of Multan and its famous shrines, even as authorities struggle to save the city.
The Express Tribune reported that a post-flood report of the Irrigation and Power Department says India provided misleading information regarding water flows in Rivers Chenab and Jhelum resulted in aggravating damage in 14 districts during floods between September 5 and 17.
According to sources, Union water resources ministry officials gave a presentation to the prime minister on the treaty and the projects involved.
Gadkari said the water of these 'Eastern rivers' will be diverted and supplied to Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The Siachen Glacier has reduced by 5.9 km in longitudinal extent between 1989 and 2009 because of rising temperatures, researchers say.
The government has finalised the details of a task force on Indus Water Treaty, which will be formed within one week, with the aim to stop river waters going waste in Pakistan.
The Indian Air Force on Friday pressed its choppers into service and rescued 14 people caught in flash-floods in Jammu district.
Pakistan will take up with India 'certain violations' of the provisions of a 1960 treaty in water projects, being constructed by the neighbouring country on Chenab and Jhelum rivers, during External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Islamabad in May.Design changes in the water projects being built by India go beyond the provisions of the Treaty and Pakistan is making efforts for their rectification. The Indus Waters Treaty gave Pakistan the rights to the rivers.
BSF troops guarding over 180 km of IB with Pakistan have strengthened their observation posts and 'listening posts' to keep a close watch against any intrusion by drones.
A group of 11 Bangladeshis had tried to cross over to Pakistan via Akhnoor sector on the night of April 18.
India welcomed the report on Baglihar saying the finding of neutral experts that New Delhi's designs were in conformity with the basic principles of the Indus-Water treaty.
The talks will be the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Khan became prime minister on August 18.
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.
Pakistan claims the project violates the 1960 Indus Water Treaty.
Speaking at the inauguration and laying of foundation schemes of various schemes, Modi said, Leh and Ladakh will also be benefited by this.
A veteran of anti-insurgency operations, Head Constable Sanjewan Singh was martyred with Colonel M N Rai in Kashmir. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and a three-year-old son.
Of India's sacred rivers, she is the holiest. It is believed that even the Ganga comes in the form of a cow for a purifying bath in the Narmada, says Geetanjali Krishna.